Multimedia streaming services like IPTV represent a tremendous opportunity for service providers and network operators to deliver a truly personalized service experience to their customers.
But, it is also crucial to ensure an adequate Quality of Experience (QoE) for the end-users subscribing to the service. A key aspect of QoE is matching the service offering and the available network resources. In networks without resource control the consequences of a mismatch between service offering and available transmission resources are typically affecting multiple and ongoing services, and is in general a highly undesirable situation for operators. Dynamic resource control is the existing solution to prevent (additional) access to a service that will exceed available transmission resources. A device adapted to dynamically allocate bandwidth between a user and a service provider is disclosed in US patent application US 2007/0002897. Dynamic resource control has however some disadvantages. Rejecting access to a service due to transmission resource limitations does not generate any revenue for the service provider or network operator. Moreover, the reason for the reject is difficult to convey to the end-user. This may in turn generate frustration and complaints.
Other related prior art can be found in the international patent application WO2007/139458. This application discloses a method to optimize bandwidth usage at multicast distribution of IPTV. Another prior art is US patent application 2007/0044130. This application discloses a system and a method for facilitating channel change in an IPTV system. The IPTV system comprises a set top box STB and an access network.